Unit owners need insurance answers from government
Archers Body Corporate Management is calling on the federal government to step in and provide insurance relief to North Queensland unit owners in the lead up to the election.
The company, which held a series of insurance seminars across the region earlier this year, has been campaigning about the failure in the North Queensland insurance market for over two years. Managing director Colin Archer said many insurers had chosen to abandon the market due to the conditions, the North Queensland unit market was suffering and increased competition was very much needed to help reduce prices in the region.
“Under current legislation insurance companies are allowed to pick and choose which areas of the state they would like to offer strata insurance which has resulted in many of them leaving the market in the past two years – this is something that needs to change,” he said. “The lack of competition has lead to increased premiums which has caused stamp duty and GST income to soar meaning the state and federal governments have benefited from increased revenue without providing any additional services for unit owners.
“The impact of spiralling costs has forced some owners to go without insurance and has eroded the unit market in North Queensland to the point where it is now the worst performing property market in Australia.”
Mr Archer said it was time the government showed North Queensland unit owners still recovering from the effects of the disasters that this issue was at the top of its agenda. “Government intervention is essential to mitigate this issue and restore some normality in the North Queensland insurance market,” Mr Archer said. “We are asking both parties to outline their solutions to this issue and demonstrate their commitment to putting this three-year battle to bed.”
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